Introducing Foods

K.,

It depends on how you prepair the food. If you prepair it soft and squishy like the stage three food then start today. My 10mo. only has two teeth on the bottom and I give her little chunks of my chicken breast when I am eating. She rolls it over her tung a few times then swallows it without difficulty. I've been giving her banana's for a long time. She gets most things. I started giving her apple slices to suck on, shared from her older sister, but when she began to take bites and then gag on them I quit giving them to her. It is fun to try new foods with them. I prefer not to give my kids cookies, cake, soda or sugar laden things until they are much older. I still don't like soda for my 4yo.

Good luck and have fun.
D.

My son will be 3 this month. He was eating table food at your son's age. There were only few types of baby food he would eat that he liked, because he prefered table food. But he loved the baby food desserts. Anyways it is ok for you to give him table foods just make sure that you mush it up really good so he doesn't choke. At your son's age mine at that age ate some of the following-mashed potatoes w/gravy, macaronnie and cheese, spagehtti, meats-but mashed really really good to avoid choking, cereal-no milk, and many more. I didn't give him milk or eggs until after he was 12 months and the pediatritian okayed it. They also have in stores like walmart in the baby section solid foods that my son enjoyed, it also gives them the chance to learn to pick foods up with their fingers. They have snacks that desovle in their mouths when they eat it and soft solid foods. Try checkin it out if you haven't already. Let me know how it goes, good luck!!!

K. ~ My son was eating a lot of table foods early...I incorporated them whenever I could. But most of the harder things to chew, like meat, probably shouldn't be given until your son has a few teeth and can chew.

Whenever you want. It used to be that the first foods were right off the table just mashed up into mush, slightly less mush the older the kids got. So introduce anything you want whenever you want, minus the high occurance allergy foods.

You can give him mashed egg yolks but not the whites as they can be an allergen before age 1. You can start with soft veggies like low-sodium canned peas and such. I always rinsed the canned veggies before giving them to my little one. I didn't give my son "our" food per se because of the seasonings but would give him soft veggies or fruits that I prepared just for him without seasoning. As far as meat, if he has good chewing function you could try very small pieces of low-sodium turkey. And with the little ones I always microwave my lunchmeats till steaming then cool them off in the fridge just in case of any potential contaminents like lysteria. Got into the habit while pregnant.

Once my kids started eating foods, I pretty much gave them anything they wanted - even very, very small soft pieces of meat. I mashed up nearly everything with my fork and let them try it. If they liked it, I gave more.

Food allergies don't run in my family, so I wasn't too scared about that. I did hold off on whole milk until age 1, but I did feed cheese and yogurt.

S.

I'm a third time mom... baby #3 would NOT eat ANY baby food EVER. Starting at 5 months, he ate table food. They know more about allergies now so they say not to introduce certain foods until certain ages, but my husband has never paid attention to that and he feeds him anything and everything off of his own plate. As long as you watch for choking hazards and there are no major food allergies in your family (like peanuts), I say feed him whatever you're eating. I'm pretty old school, though. I mean if you think about it, our parents didn't have all of those "stages" of baby foods to give us. They bought the basic strained peas stuff or they fed off of their plates.

My oldest, who is now almost 2, started solids at 5 months and took to them so well that I started introducing our foods to her within a couple of months. By 9 months old she was eating much of what we ate. You can use a little baby food mill to puree the foods a little, and just give him what you are having. When he has more teeth then you can start introducing bigger things, as long as they are soft. Lola could gum and chew her food early on, so we gave her meat, chicken, etc... She was a great eater. Follow your own instincts when it comes to food, and follow your baby's cues. I also think it's important to introduce a variety of things early on, especially seasonings and spices, so that your baby can get used to different tastes!

I introduced table food to my son by the time he was 9 months. I gave him meat, just made sure it wasn't really seasoned and was cut up pretty small. My son loved all the extra variety.

My pediatrician told me to start meats by buying deli meats shaved very thin. You can get 1/4 lb. turkey, chicken or ham or whatever and they will slice it so thin that it's very easy for a little one to chew. I just put it a little at a time on their high chair tray and let them try it. It may take a few attempts. Not every food is pleasing to baby palettes immediately, but keep trying. My kids turned out to be great eaters!
Good luck!
S.

They say not to give solid (adult) food until a certain age because of fear of upsetting the baby's tummy I think.
I would let mine suck and gum down french fries w/o salt when they were still in the carseat carrier. Like the other response there was a time that there wasn't baby food. and all you had was regular food. I would hold off on the milk and peanut butter, milk is harder to digest and peanut butter because of allergies. But as a single mom I would find that animal crackers were cheaper than the baby food crackers but soft and such for them to suck on and gum on. Ive also heard of people giving kids plain frozen waffles during teething, the cold helps with the pain and something fairly soft to gum on. It depends on your baby and how they respond but you should be able to start introducing when sitting at the table feed things off your plate. Of course if no teeth stick with very soft foods, mashed potatoes for instance. I would introduce soft foods before any meat because they have to learn the chewing and such meat tends to require more chewing. First and foremost listen to your motherly instinct.
Good Luck.

Hey! I know when my son was younger he would not eat any meat that was in the form of baby food. So, what I have always done is cooked the meat and cut it up in really small pieces. Most of the time we only ate chicken or fish and he has always done really well with gumming his meat. That's how we fed him his meat and veggies because he liked ours better than his. I have even made our meat and put a little bit in a blender and he's eaten that too. Just make sure you don't overload on the spices. Their bellies may not be ready for a whole lot of spices yet. We started this with my son around 9 months or so! Good luck!!!

You have done well to hold him off this long. Baby food is just better for him nutritionally. Too many parents try to rush it and give them table food too early because its easier. Easier is not always better. I would move to the toddler meals in a month or two, but don't spoil his taste buds too soon with strong flavors, because once you do, he'll never go back to bland taste with better nutrition. We focus on taste too much, but eating should be for nutrition, not for taste. You are doing great with him and shouldn't worry about rushing into table foods.
If you really want to start him on table foods, only give him bland flavors and it should be soft and mushy. Make sure he has enough teeth to handle whatever you give him from the table. Texture is also very important. Some textures, babies just can't handle. Also, make sure that it is not too strong for his stomach.
As far as the meat, I would slowly introduce sodium free turkey (healthiest for them), but have the deli shave it really thin and just give him a small amount at a time because meat tends to stay on your stomach longer and large amounts can spoil while in your stomach and cause cramping and upset stomach.
Just remember, how you feed him now will play a big part of what kind of habits he has when he is growing.
To feed him anything he wants would be just plain foolish. You have the responsibility to create a healthy lifestyle for him and what you feed him now will help him become a healthy or a sickly child.
Take Care,
T., mother of 4